Pentagon officials have concluded that hundreds more trainers, advisers and commandos from the United States and its allies will need to be sent to Iraq and Syria in the coming months as the campaign to isolate the Islamic State intensifies. In meetings with President Obama’s national security team in recent weeks, military officials have told the White House that they believe they have made significant progress in the fight against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, administration officials said. But to deal a lasting blow to the extremist Sunni militancy, also known as ISIS and ISIL, they believe that additional forces will be needed to work with Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian opposition fighters on the ground in the two countries.

BUSTED – Dozens of Cartel Members Arrested:

At least two dozen suspected members of the Sinaloa cartel were arrested on Friday in an all-day sting that took place at the border between Arizona and Mexico. The sting was referred to as Mexican Operation Diablo Express and involved the cooperation between Homeland Security agents, a unit of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Mexican authorities. The operation also resulted in the seizure of hundreds of pounds of drugs and some assault-style weapons.

*LBN-INVESTIGATES:
Dating and Relationships

1. Couples usually wait until six to eight dates before they are willing to enter into an exclusive relationship.

2. Speed dating, invented by a rabbi from Los Angeles in 1999, is based on a Jewish tradition of chaperoned gatherings of young Jewish singles.

3. The most common time for breakups is around three to five months.

4. One in three teenagers have experienced violence in a dating relationship.

5. In a survey conducted by MSNBC.com and Elle magazine, more than 31% of men said they dumped an overweight partner compared to 12% of women.

6. On average, it takes between 12 to 14 dates before couples will trade house keys.

7. Women who post a photo on Internet dating sites receive twice as many email messages as women who don’t. The same study found that men who reported incomes higher than $250,000 received 156% more email than those with $50,000.

8. Match.com reports that 44% of its members in the United States have children.

9. On free dating sites, at least 10% of new accounts are from scammers.

10. If a man can’t decide what to wear on a date, he might want to wear blue. Studies show that women are attracted to men in blue.

*LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:   ***Setting up an expected 2017 Oscar run, “The Birth of a Nation,” a searing slave-revolt drama, swept the top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night in Park City, Utah. “The Birth of a Nation,” directed and written by Nate Parker, who also plays the film’s leading role, won the grand jury prize for a narrative film and was voted the best movie by audiences at the festival, which concludes its 11-day run on Sunday.

*LBN-INVESTIGATES: Dogs can smell about 1,000 times better than humans. While humans have 5 million smell-detecting cells, dogs have more than 220 million. The part of the brain that interprets smell is also four times larger in dogs than in humans.

*LBN-VIDEO LINK:

Bill Maher Slams The Internet For Killing The Truth

*LBN-SPORTS INSIDER:   ***The Grand Slam was there for the taking last September in New York, and though Serena Williams faltered there and also faltered in the final here in Melbourne on Saturday, the Grand Slam is still very much on the table. To watch Novak Djokovic sweep aside Roger Federer and Andy Murray – the two men closest to him in the rankings – in the closing rounds of the Australian Open was to watch a man in command.

*LBN-MY REVIEW: “LBN is a strong cup of coffee! It wakes me up with intensely independent information and news.”——Carlton U., an LBN reader from Baltimore, Maryland.

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Maureen Dowd: The White House has a strange, mind-warping effect on its occupants. Presidents are exalted and fawned over. Their every whim is indulged and their image is endlessly and lovingly replicated on every wall. Reaching the pinnacle of power, raised up on the shoulders of Americans to the highest office, often has the perverse consequence of making presidents more paranoid, introverted, insecure, reckless or downright nuts. So what would happen if Donald Trump, a clinical narcissist with a thin skin, touchy temperament and taste for flattery, got into the Oval Office? I call Trump to tell him my fears. Given that he already likes to start sentences, “Here’s the beauty of me,” wouldn’t we be risking a narcissistic explosion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Adam Grant: Child prodigies rarely become adult geniuses who change the world. We assume that they must lack the social and emotional skills to function in society. When you look at the evidence, though, this explanation doesn’t suffice: Less than a quarter of gifted children suffer from social and emotional problems. A vast majority are well adjusted — as winning at a cocktail party as in the spelling bee. What holds them back is that they don’t learn to be original. They strive to earn the approval of their parents and the admiration of their teachers. But as they perform in Carnegie Hall and become chess champions, something unexpected happens: Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new.

*LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said that asylum-seeking migrants must return to their home countries once peace has been restored. “We need…to say to people that this is a temporary residential status and we expect that once there is peace in Syria again, once IS has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained,” Merkel said at a meeting of her party members. The remarks come at a time when Merkel is facing increasing scrutiny for her open-door policy toward migrants. A poll released on Friday showed that 40 percent of Germans want Merkel to resign because of her refugee policy. About 1.1 million refugees arrived in Germany last year.

U.S. Stocks See Worst January Since 2009

Though closing up for the week, U.S. stocks had their worst January since 2009, when the country was still recovering from the financial meltdown. The S&P 500 slid 5.1 percent over the course of the month, and the Dow Jones fell 5.5 percent. The NASDAQ saw a 7.9 percent decline.

*WHO READS LBN? Author Gail Sheehy

Wounded Warrior Project Added to Charity Navigator ‘Watchlist’

Charity Navigator, a leading charitable sector watchdog, put the veterans group Wounded Warrior Project on its donor “watchlist,” indicating to its audience that there are troubling allegations against the organization that contributors should be aware of.  The Daily Beast has been reporting on the excesses of the Wounded Warrior Project since September 2014, with a series of stories on its high overhead costs and its penchant for bullying smaller charities with the term “wounded warrior” in their name. Wounded Warrior Project CEO Steven Nardizzi has also been part of an effort to increase charitable sector executive salaries and have larger fundraising costs.  “Placing a charity on the Watchlist is a way of letting donors know that there is an issue of concern that they should take into account before they donate to that charity,” Sandra Miniutti, a vice president at Charity Navigator, told The Daily Beast. “We have a committee that meets each week. They review the information that has come to our attention about a particular charity and determine if it should be placed on the Watchlist, Donor Advisory list, or neither.”

*LBN-WHERE THE ELITE AND UNDERDOGS MEET:

Facebook to Ban Gun Sales on Site:

Facebook is banning the private sale of firearms on its main site and on Instagram, the company said on Friday. Though Facebook has not directly participated in gun sales, it has served as an online meeting place for the discussion and negotiation. The move comes as President Obama pushes for stricter gun control measures such as more extensive background checks.

*LBN-INVESTIGATES: Depression

1. The main risk factors of depression include past abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), certain medications (drugs that treat high blood pressure), conflict with family members or friends, death or loss, chronic or major illness, and a family history of depression.

2. Even positive events such as graduating, getting married, a new job can lead to depression.

3. Nearly 30% of people with substance abuse problems also suffer from depression.

4. More than 20 million people in the United States suffer from depression in a given year.

5. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men. Women may be at a higher risk for depression due in part to estrogen, which may alter the activity of neurotransmitters that contribute to depression.

6. At some point in their lives, about one in four Americans will experience depression.

7. Once men hit midlife, they may face an increased risk of depression due to the decrease of testosterone.

8. Men typically experience depression differently from women and use different means to cope. For example, while women may feel hopeless, men may feel irritable. Women may crave a listening ear, while men may became socially withdrawn or become violent or abusive.

9. Researchers have recently found that those who suffer from depression are at risk for low bone mineral density. Depressed women are especially at risk for developing osteoporosis.

10. Abraham Lincoln first fell into a deep depression after Ann Rutledge, his first love, died. Lincoln reportedly suffered from chronic depression his entire life.

Confirmed: ‘Gilmore Girls’ Is Back

Netflix confirmed Friday that it will revive beloved WB dramedy series Gilmore Girls for a new season featuring original cast members Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson,Kelly Bishop, Sean Gunn, and Keiko Agena. The original producers, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, are also on board. The reboot’s title, episode count, and premiere date remain unclear. News of a possible reboot first leaked in October.

*LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:   ***Minnie Driver has returned to CAA after two and a half years at UTA.   ***Fraser Heston has responded to an email from the Academy with a rebuke that invokes father Charlton Heston’s presidency of the Screen Actors Guild and his marching with Dr. Martin Luther King. “I cannot begin to tell you with what consternation I received this missive. But I will try,” Heston writes in a letter to Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and the Board of Governors. The “missive” Heston refers to is an email sent to Academy members informing them that, in an effort to diversify its ranks, the voting status of members will be revoked if they are not “active in motion pictures” during a decade.

*LBN-HEALTH WATCH:   ***The controversial theory that the “seeds” of Alzheimer’s disease may have been transmitted between patients during surgical procedures involving the use of donated human tissue has been supported by the discovery of new evidence. Scientists have found a link between patients who received nerve-tissue grafts several decades ago and the presence of a protein in the brain that is normally seen in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

*LBN-SPORTS INSIDER:    ***A payment processing company that handles a significant number of transactions for the two dominant daily fantasy sports companies notified the operators this week that it would no longer handle their payments and in fact was leaving the industry altogether. It is perhaps the biggest blow yet to an industry that has been pummeled by legal challenges in recent months. Vantiv Entertainment Solutions, the processing company, told its daily fantasy clients, which include FanDuel and DraftKings, that it would “suspend all processing for payment transactions” related to daily fantasy sports in the United States and its territories on Feb. 29.

*LBN – MY REVIEW: “Reading LBN continues to liberate my mind.”—-Douglas V., an LBN reader from Toronto, Canada

*LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:   ***David Bowie left the vast majority of his nearly $100 million estate to his wife and two children, according to the singer’s will that was filed Friday in New York. Additionally, Bowie asked that his body be cremated in Bali and his ashes be scattered “in accordance with the Buddhist rituals”.   ***John Legend will produce his first off-Broadway play in NYC, “3 Mics.” The singer has joined Get Lifted Film partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius to produce “Chappelle’s Show” co-creator Neal Brennan’s solo show at the Lynn Redgrave Theater from Feb. 23 through March 3

*LBN-NOTICED:   ***Reality TV show producer Tony Dimondhaving dinner last night at M Café in Santa Monica.   ***Oliver Platt taking in “King Charles III” at the Music Box Theater on Thursday in NYC.   ***Diane von Furstenberg having a late dinner at Da Silvano in NYC with friends, the night before John McEnroe and his wife, Patty Smyth, also dined at the restaurant.   ***Brooke Shields having breakfast Friday morning at the Golden Pear in East Hampton, where she enjoyed organic maple granola with Greek yogurt and berries.   ***Amy Schumer with Justin Long on the New York set of “Inside Amy Schumer”.   ***Andy Cohen having a snack at Haven’s Kitchen in Chelsea in NYC.   ***Popular Rant columnist Ericka T. Bass having breakfast at Pink’s Hot Dogs on LaBrea.

*LBN-SITE OF THE DAY:

AAA: Daily Fuel Gauge Report

“AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report is updated each day and is the most comprehensive retail gasoline survey available. Everyday up to 120,000 self-serve stations are surveyed.”

*LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:….